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Lenny Henry advert too scary for children

Funnyman’s ad parodying The Shining is banned during children’s programmes

An advert showing comedian Lenny Henry parodying the horror film, The Shining has been banned during breaks in children’s TV shows.

The ad for Premier Inn showed Lenny smashing through a door with an axe and then saying “Here’s Lenny” like the famous scene from horror flick, The Shining.

The advert then cuts to another shot of Lenny calmly saying, “A bad night’s sleep at some hotels can make you grumpy.”

Viewers who saw the ad during a break on the kids channel, Nick Jr, complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, who upheld the complaints and pulled the advert from children’s programmes, ruling it should not be shown during shows made for, or specifically targeted, at children.

Premier Inn hotels has said it didn’t mean for the advert to be shown on children’s channel, and blamed a technical error for the screening.

This is the second time unsuitable content has appeared on children’s TV. Earlier this month previews of adult channel, Playboy, were shown during children’s shows in the States.